A few dark moments and tiny twists delivered well are unable to hide the fact that Inconceivable is a glossy thriller with moments of minor titillation and good performances.

Nicholas Cage films are easy to get along with. He is a self-confessed workaholic and pumps out films of varying quality at an alarming rate. With that sort of productivity it goes without saying that the standard can sometimes be questionable. However the point is that Nicholas Cage always gives his all in every role.

Moonstruck might have been a long time ago and Leaving Las Vegas nothing more than a distant memory, but it is worth remembering that Cage is an Oscar winning actor. Beneath the outlandish ticks, bulging eyes and method man preparations which used to be his calling card there lays a great actor. In truth the histrionics might be a thing of the past as he has gotten older and less picky, but Cage still represents a niche in which his crazy only just fits.

What we get with Inconceivable though is a dialled down Cage opposite an actress best known for Bound and Showgirls rather than anything else. Gina Gershon should have been in more films, done more work and been recognised beyond the stereotypical roles which defined her early work. Striking, buxom, darkly femme fatale in appearance and oozing sex appeal even now, Hollywood has never known what to do with her. Here she gets a by-the-numbers role of successful professional in need of a child to complete an otherwise idyllic lifestyle. At which point we get the textbook mystery woman turn up in her friendship circle ticking all the boxes.

Cage and Gershon share chemistry if not much screen time, while Nicky Whelan’s Katie goes from gushing friend and companion to seething baby making machine in an hour and forty minutes. This is formulaic stuff you would have seen a million times before comparable to Single White Female, Fatal Attraction and The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. A few dark moments and tiny twists delivered well are unable to hide the fact that Inconceivable is a glossy thriller with moments of minor titillation and good performances.

Having said that Faye Dunaway’s mother-in-law Donna is savagely underwritten leaving her with very little wriggle room. A token role in which she plays both voice of reason and sole finger of suspicion, giving us pay cheque player stuff from someone who can do better. A fact that will be ignored by most people who watch anything with Nicholas Cage in and walk away smiling. In spite of myself, Inconceivable remains enjoyable because I am one of those people crossing their fingers hoping for another Wild At Heart, Vampire’s Kiss or Face Off meltdown. Unfortunately this is not one of those.

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